Woman killed in dog maul attack suffered haemorrhage to head and neck

Police outside the house in south London where a woman was mauled to death by a dog. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

A woman mauled to death by a dog at her home suffered a severe haemorrhage to her head and neck, police said today.

Barbara Williams, 52, was attacked by a Belgian mastiff at the house where she was a lodger on Demesne Road, Wallington, south London. She was formally identified at a postmortem today at St Helier Hospital, Carshalton.

The dog, described by one officer as large and ferocious, was shot dead by police marksmen following the incident on Thursday. Williams was pronounced dead at the scene. There will be an inquest into her death.

Alex Blackburn-Smith, 34, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and has been bailed until late February pending further inquiries.

Detective chief superintendent Guy Ferguson described the dog as "distinctly large" and said that at the time of the attack another woman of similar age to Williams was in the house with a child under five. "It was a very ferocious dog," he said. "The officers had to use shields to contain the dog."

Sutton council said it had received a complaint about dogs damaging a neighbour's fence last year. "The council and the police's safer neighbourhood team were contacted in connection with another smaller dog and damage to a fence at this address in August 2009," said councillor Colin Hall, responsible for dog control.

"At that point there were no legal grounds for the council to intervene on the basis of our statutory powers."

Earlier, Ferguson said Blackburn-Smith was the main occupier of the premises.

Neighbours said the Belgian mastiff was "a big strong dog" and were afraid to let their children play in the garden when it was next door.

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